MEET OUR BOARD

Dukagjin Pupovci​Dukagjin Pupovci is an education expert and director of the Kosovo Education Center (KEC), one of the largest educational NGOs in the Balkans. He contributed to the design of numerous studies on the state of education and research in Kosovo, as well as the key strategic documents for the development of these sectors. Dukagjini holds the rank of doctor of science in the field of applied mathematics. For more than 30 years he has been a teacher at the University of Prishtina where he has held courses in mathematics, computer science and education.

​Vedat Gashi​Vedat’s commitment to public service came from his family’s experience as political activists and refugees. Upon earning his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University and passing the New York Bar exam, Vedat was called to service in Kosova to join the US/EU effort to help establish the newly formed state of Kosova.

​While in Kosova, Vedat’s hard work led to remarkable accomplishments, including drafting some of Kosovo’s foundational legal documents and establishing Kosova’s Ministry of Local Government Administration. Vedat was later nominated by the United Nations to serve as the Chief Legal Advisor to Kosova’s Prime Minister. Shortly after Kosova declared independence, Vedat returned to his home in the United States where he currently works in real estate legal practice.

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Athena Palmer​Athena Palmer first fell in love with Memphis in 2006, when she taught Chemistry and Anatomy & Physiology to the brilliant, beautiful students at Kingsbury High School. In 2008, she became the development manager for Teach For America Memphis before stepping into the executive director role in 2010. Under her tenure, the corps has tripled in size to 300 and the alumni base has grown five times over to more than 400.

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​Armend BerishaArmend has been professionally involved in education leadership for six years where he developed his interests to working on creating thoughtful educational environments that ensure student growth and optimize student success, thus, maximizing the educational impact for students and society. Currently, he is leading and designing the Strategy for Student Success at Universum College, a strategy that aims to assist and support students from unprivileged backgrounds to succeed in college and acquire the benefits that the higher education diploma intends to provide.

Fatmir Krasniqi​Fatmir Krasniqi is a teacher at Elena Gjika Elementary School who has 37 years of teaching experience.He also works as an activities coordinator between Prishtina, Kosovo and Tirana, Albania and was a member of the PISA Commission in 2018.